The Cover September ’18 – Timini Egbuson – From Unilag To Nollywood

By Timayo Ogunro
On today’s enticing episode, we welcome Nigerian hotness, Timini Egbuson to grace the cover of the September issue of our monthly magazine, The Cover.

Timini was kind enough to share the details on his rise through the ranks of Nollywood to becoming one of the most sought after and leading men in the industry.

With many movies, including MTV Shuga already done and many more to come, a killer fashion sense and a pearly white smile that leaves ladies feeling weak at the knees, this baby boy is set to make his mark, not just in the film industry, but in life as wellClick play below

Read excerpts below:

TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD
“Well, I am the last kid of five and when I was born I was surrounded by a lot of grown up siblings that were very energetic. As a result of this, I wanted to grow up very quickly as not to be seen as the ‘baby of the house’- even though my mum still calls me that.
I was forced to grow up at a faster rate than I would normally have, and it was a very exciting and educative experience for me- from work to play, to ways to earn money, I started off at a really early age.”

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?
“I grew up in Lagos- from Gbagada to Surulere- I grew up all over the place. Most of my life was spent in Lagos, but I have managed to gain influences and life experiences from film, television and travel.”

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO BE AN ACTOR?
“It’s funny, because when I was in university I never had any plans or hopes to become an actor, but I would occasionally follow my sister Dakore around town because she has been in the game for about twenty years now. I would follow her on sets, watching the process and slowly fell in love with it.
I guess the Gemini in me liked the fact that you could become a different person at different times, but I never actually viewed it as a source of income for myself. So I finished university with a degree in psychology from the University of Lagos and decided to look for work.

I found a job within two months of graduating, as a sales marketing executive- I loved it. But, one day I went for an audition- Dakore didn’t want me to go- because she thought I was just going to waste my time. But I did go, just to see if I could do it, with no influence- as Dakore’s brother- I waited in a long queue for hours and for whatever reason, I got the role. That was the start of my acting career, because I became curious- I didn’t think I had the talent of acting, but here I am getting a role over the other four thousand people that auditioned. It was very funny, because at first my character didn’t have a lot of lines, but my boys from UNILAG would watch it and ask me, ‘guy, we dey watch you- you no go say anything?’
So yeah like many actors, I went through that phase of only having one-liners and making cameo appearances, and I started to doubt myself, but as I stayed in the hustle and grind of acting I heard about the MTV Shuga auditions. I thought to myself, ‘Lupita Nyong’o gained international influence because of her time on that show’, so when I heard there was an audition call, I took the company driver and told my boss I was going for a sales pitch, but went to the audition instead. That’s how my acting career started.”

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LOVE INTEREST IN MTV SHUGA
“I have been blessed with many amazing actresses that have played my love interest, in Shuga there was Jemima Osunde and Bukola Oladipupo. I’ve had a bunch of love interests, and it is always nice to share the screen and create chemistry with different talented people.
If the chemistry doesn’t look and feel real, the camera and the audience see it. So getting close to someone to deliver chemistry, is one of the hardest parts of the job- it’s also one of the most interesting parts of the job- sometimes I get to kiss beautiful women.”

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS?
“Where do I see myself in six months, to be honest, I see myself- happy. A lot more content, because the thing about it is, there is always one more thing you want to achieve, but one thing I have learnt in the first six months of this year, is that contentment is very key. I used to grumble all the time, asking God, ‘why am I still doing this, I have done ABC, but yet I still don’t have XYZ, what is going on with my life?’
So every time I enter a new year, I tell myself to just try and be happy, and touch as many lives as possible. And when I look back at the year, I find that I have achieved so much more than I would have ever imagined. I’m producing my first short film.”

ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNGER ACTORS COMING UP IN THE INDUSTRY?
“First of all, you need to learn that you can learn from people that are younger than you. To everyone watching this, if you are going to take anything away from this, I would say that you need to just start, just take that jump and trust the process.
Trusting in the process is key, because you do not want to be an overnight success, if you are an overnight success, nine times out of ten, you won’t have what it takes to sustain and stay at the top. There are things you have to go through in life to eventually get to the top.
You need to put the work in- these things don’t happen overnight. I have met a lot of people that say they want to act so bad, but I ask them, ‘what are you doing to get better?’ You can look for the opportunity to act or sing all you want, but if you are not prepared for the business, you will fall flat on your face.
Just be ready and trust the process.”

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